Many compositions used for skin treatments contain emollients or humectants such as petroleum jelly. Such compositions are used for many dermatological applications such as moisturizing, amelioration of wrinkles, prevention of chaffing, or wound healing. When applied to the skin, these compositions tend to be greasy, and therefore tend to transfer onto and stain clothing or other surfaces which contact the area of application.
Water soluble gels that form protective films of various types are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,393,048 discloses a water soluble hydrogel of alkali metal alginate and glycerine that dries to a non-toxic, pliable protective film. U.S. Pat. No. 3,489,690 describes water-and-oil emulsions which can contain waxy film formers like petroleum jelly to form films which are nonpliable, tacky and transferable when rubbed between surfaces. U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,742 discloses a transparent medical dressing which performs as a synthetic film over skin wounds comprised of a laminate of a thin layer of non-porous segmented polyurethane secured to foam. U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,874 describes water-dissipatable, meltable polyesters that are useful as adhesives, coating materials, films, packaging materials and other products that can be dissolved, dispersed or otherwise dissipated in water or acqueous solutions. Although the polymers described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,874 may not pose the problem of transferring to surfaces in contact with the area of application, they do not contain humectants or emollients to serve as satisfactory skin treatment compositions.